Objective The number of opioid overdose deaths in Canada has tripled from 2019 to 2023. Our objective was to determine the proportion of opioid overdose decedents who received palliative care, and to identify how they differed from those who did not receive palliative care. Methods We conducted a population-level descriptive study of opioid overdose decedents in Ontario, Canada, between 1 July 2015 and 31 December 2022. Specifically, we identified recipients of palliative care in the last 2 years of life, and age-matched and compared them to opioid overdose decedents who did not receive palliative care. Results Among 11 645 opioid overdose decedents, 30.1% (n=3500) received palliative care mainly in acute care (96.9%). A mean of 4.7 days (SD 11.1) of palliative care was provided in the last 2 years of life. Compared with age-matched decedents not receiving palliative care, palliative care recipients were more likely to live in lower-income neighbourhoods, have higher morbidity, die in hospital and receive prescription opioids for pain at the end of life. Conclusions Approximately one in three opioid overdose decedents received short-term palliative care in acute care. Future studies should examine palliative care access and delivery for people who present to the hospital with opioid overdose.
Lau et al. (Thu,) studied this question.